(… and, yes, of course the freeholder is registered in a tax haven) Two lawyers fighting a right to manage application at the fashionable Post Box Birmingham site have had their costs slashed 90 per cent by a tribunal. Barrister Justin Bates (top), of Arden Chambers, and Roger Hardwick, of Brethertons, were asking for £28,117.95 […]

Energy Secretary Ed Davey demanded answers this afternoon from the Office of Fair Trading over its tardy investigation into the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal. He and Sir Peter Bottomley, MP for Worthing West, wanted to know why the investigation was so protracted and why Peverel was offered a 100 per cent leniency deal. Peverel […]

Ground rent scandals

By Sebastian O’Kelly No, not entirely. Yes, Redrow may be thought to be shafting its customers at Ledsham Garden Village by playing the leasehold angles, if these houses could be sold normally as freehold. Yes, it has high ground rents at its fancy flats at, for example, Kingston Riverside, in Surrey So far, so developer […]

How foreign investment firms exploit the UK property market with leasehold ground rents The government plans to reform the leasehold property system in the UK. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: “These practices are unjust, unnecessary and need to stop.” * Around 4 million – or 21% – of privately owned properties in England are leaseholds. […]

The Guardian today reports on the web of companies run by James Tuttiett, 53, a Winchester-based ground rent fund manager and the boss of E&J Capital Partners. Many of the freeholds of leasehold houses in the North West bought by first-time buyers assisted by the taxpayer-funded Help To Buy scheme belong to the ground rent […]

Grenfell cladding

Taxpayers face a loss of £85,000 on a Help To Buy loan at New Capital Quay after Homes England accepted that a flat blighted by Grenfell cladding was now worth only £50,000. Cecile Langevin, 32, a mother of two, bought her £475,000 flat with a £95,000 Help To Buy loan, savings and a mortgage in […]

Today sees the launch of a campaign calling on the government to help fund the recladding of the private blocks impacted by ACM cladding led by InsideHousing in support of the UK Cladding Action Group (UKCAG). LKP is proud to help support this campaign along with many other groups and MPs including leasehold and commonhold […]

When leaseholders unite …

The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership has proposed changing the government regulations on the creation of residents’ associations, and has received widespread backing for the reform. The key changes that have been presented to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles are: That residents associations can be recognised with 50 per cent of qualifying residents plus one supporting the move, […]

Disgraceful …

These issues were raised by Sir Peter Bottomley in the Queen’s Speech debate yesterday Let me turn to other issues that come up for Back Benchers. I pick up causes, one of which came about as a result of an incident in my constituency regarding leasehold, when some elderly, frail and poor people found themselves […]